Tweet
Africasia, UK
Oct 14 2007
Democrats press on with genocide bill despite Turkish fury
Top US Democrats Sunday brushed off Turkish fury and vowed to press
ahead with an Armenian "genocide" bill, insisting that bloodshed
today demanded a righting of past wrongs.
But Republicans accused the party in control of Congress of waging an
"irresponsible" campaign of dubious historical validity that would
hurt US troops in Iraq.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said possible reprisals
affecting Turkey's cooperation with the US military were
"hypothetical" and would not derail the resolution.
"I said if it passed the committee that we would bring it to the
floor," she said on ABC television after the House foreign affairs
committee last week branded the Ottoman Empire's World War I massacre
of Armenians a genocide.
"Genocide still exists, and we saw it in Rwanda; we see it now in
Darfur," Pelosi said.
"Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values
-- Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture. All of those issues (are) about
who we are as a country," she added.
According to Armenians, at least 1.5 million Armenians were killed
from 1915 to 1917 under an Ottoman Empire campaign of deportation and
murder. Turkey bitterly disputes the number of dead and the
characterization of "genocide."
The bill is likely to come up in the full House in November. Although
the resolution is only symbolic, Turkey recalled its ambassador to
Washington last week and has called off visits to the United States
by at least two of its officials.
The angry reaction has fueled fears within the US administration that
it could lose access to a military base in NATO ally Turkey that
provides a crucial staging ground for US supplies headed to Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Two top US officials, one each from the state and defense
departments, are now in Turkey to try to cool the diplomatic row.
"We are certainly working to try to minimize any concrete steps the
government might take (such as) restricting the movement of our
troops," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday in
Moscow.
Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates lobbied hard against the
genocide resolution, and the administration says it will keep up its
effort to forestall a vote in the full House of Representatives.
US-Turkish military ties "will never be the same again" if the House
confirms the committee vote, Turkey's military chief General Yasar
Buyukanit told the daily Milliyet on Sunday.
House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said that he had repeatedly
raised the Armenia killings with Turkish political and military
leaders during his 26 years in Congress.
"Never once in that quarter of a century has anybody on the Turkish
government said this is the right time. In other words, there would
never be a right time," he said on Fox News Sunday.
"If we forget what has happened... then we are at risk of letting it
happen again."
House Republican leader John Boehner said there was no doubt that the
Armenian people's suffering in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire
was "extreme."
"But what happened 90 years ago ought to be a subject for historians
to sort out, not politicians here in Washington," he said.
"And I think bringing this bill to the floor may be the most
irresponsible thing I've seen this new Congress do this year,"
Boehner said, calling Turkey "a very important ally in our war
against the terrorists."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said there was "no question"
that Armenians had been slaughtered en masse.
"But I don't think the Congress passing this resolution is a good
idea at any point. But particularly not a good idea when Turkey is
cooperating with us in many ways, which ensures greater safety for
our soldiers," he said.
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/news item.php?area=mideast&item=071014153848.wvsrv7 ph.php
Oct 14 2007
Democrats press on with genocide bill despite Turkish fury
Top US Democrats Sunday brushed off Turkish fury and vowed to press
ahead with an Armenian "genocide" bill, insisting that bloodshed
today demanded a righting of past wrongs.
But Republicans accused the party in control of Congress of waging an
"irresponsible" campaign of dubious historical validity that would
hurt US troops in Iraq.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said possible reprisals
affecting Turkey's cooperation with the US military were
"hypothetical" and would not derail the resolution.
"I said if it passed the committee that we would bring it to the
floor," she said on ABC television after the House foreign affairs
committee last week branded the Ottoman Empire's World War I massacre
of Armenians a genocide.
"Genocide still exists, and we saw it in Rwanda; we see it now in
Darfur," Pelosi said.
"Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values
-- Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture. All of those issues (are) about
who we are as a country," she added.
According to Armenians, at least 1.5 million Armenians were killed
from 1915 to 1917 under an Ottoman Empire campaign of deportation and
murder. Turkey bitterly disputes the number of dead and the
characterization of "genocide."
The bill is likely to come up in the full House in November. Although
the resolution is only symbolic, Turkey recalled its ambassador to
Washington last week and has called off visits to the United States
by at least two of its officials.
The angry reaction has fueled fears within the US administration that
it could lose access to a military base in NATO ally Turkey that
provides a crucial staging ground for US supplies headed to Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Two top US officials, one each from the state and defense
departments, are now in Turkey to try to cool the diplomatic row.
"We are certainly working to try to minimize any concrete steps the
government might take (such as) restricting the movement of our
troops," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday in
Moscow.
Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates lobbied hard against the
genocide resolution, and the administration says it will keep up its
effort to forestall a vote in the full House of Representatives.
US-Turkish military ties "will never be the same again" if the House
confirms the committee vote, Turkey's military chief General Yasar
Buyukanit told the daily Milliyet on Sunday.
House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said that he had repeatedly
raised the Armenia killings with Turkish political and military
leaders during his 26 years in Congress.
"Never once in that quarter of a century has anybody on the Turkish
government said this is the right time. In other words, there would
never be a right time," he said on Fox News Sunday.
"If we forget what has happened... then we are at risk of letting it
happen again."
House Republican leader John Boehner said there was no doubt that the
Armenian people's suffering in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire
was "extreme."
"But what happened 90 years ago ought to be a subject for historians
to sort out, not politicians here in Washington," he said.
"And I think bringing this bill to the floor may be the most
irresponsible thing I've seen this new Congress do this year,"
Boehner said, calling Turkey "a very important ally in our war
against the terrorists."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said there was "no question"
that Armenians had been slaughtered en masse.
"But I don't think the Congress passing this resolution is a good
idea at any point. But particularly not a good idea when Turkey is
cooperating with us in many ways, which ensures greater safety for
our soldiers," he said.
http://www.africasia.com/services/news/news item.php?area=mideast&item=071014153848.wvsrv7 ph.php